Now, there are some catches. Apparently only 2,295 people voted in the most recent survey. That's a small number for a large magazine like Famitsu. It is large enough to be statistically significant if marginally inaccurate, but I am in no mood to argue statistics on the internet.

The second catch is that there are a lot of modern games on here. Apparently 45% of those surveyed were in their 20s or younger. This could account for the tendency towards more modern games. Though I will note that Dragon Quest III (from 1988) came in 2nd place. Even in Famitsu's poll from 11 years ago in came in as the 3rd best game of all time. The Japanese absolutely love that game. (An aside: It's a pretty damn good RPG for an NES game.)

Well, anyway, enough of my knee jerk analysis. Here are the results:

Persona 5

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

Chrono Trigger

NieR: Automata

Final Fantasy VII

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Suikoden II

NieR

Persona 3

Final Fantasy XV

Xenoblade Chronicles

Final Fantasy X

Xenogears

Persona 4: Golden

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Final Fantasy VI

EarthBound

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy VIII

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I'm glad to see Persona 3 so high. That game is underrated in the West, in my opinion. Final Fantasy VI and Earthbound also climbed up the lists from a number of years ago. Anyway, I found this interesting and thought I would share. I'd be curious to see if Persona 5 remained as popular in the future. It is a much more Japanese-centric game than the previous entries, but I think a recency bias might still play into effect.

Huh... I like Persona 5, and admittedly, I'm only 3 dungeons in, but best RPG of all time? I imagine all the social commentary in that game hits way harder in Japan than it does in the west. I wonder if that can account for that reaction.

(Not to discount the overwhelmingly positive reaction in the States. I've heard several folks, both friends and press alike, calling it their #1 GOTY contender so far)

Interesting. This obviously has some regional preferences into it, on top of the usual opinion stuff.

Persona is not my thing at all though. I'm not even sure what I would call my favorite RPG of all time. Every single one that I enjoyed also had some major drawbacks to the point that the best ever could release with each new one I play.

I really like Skyrim, but it isn't of very high quality in terms of polish and doesn't have great feeling gameplay. I love Final Fantasy X, but it doesn't have a lot of freedom, its endgame is rather poor and is surprisingly constrained in its armor and weapon customization (there are really only a 2-3 possibilities to spec into). I really liked the idea of Fallout 4, its setting for instance; but thought they didn't execute properly on most fronts that could have made it great.

I truly like The Witcher, as in the first one, for its more complex approaches and systems towards combat and the way it connects lore into the actual gameplay. Drinking potions before battles and such made it stand out and very interesting to play, but it felt too segregated in zones instead of a living world and the gameplay wasn't actually that good at all. I admire parts of The Witcher 3, specifically its story telling during most quests, but that gameplay is too floaty and inconsistent. On top they removed some of the best parts of The Witcher, like drinking potions and such before battles. They don't even have a drinking animation anymore. I'm also one of the few people on these boards that actually loves Andromeda, though I guess I do not have to explain that game has drawbacks as well.

I don't know. Feels like the best RPG of all time is yet to come. When it gets here, it won't really bump anything else from the throne for me either.

Most of the games on the list would not be surprising to see Western gamers vote for. There's a remarkable amount of similarity in taste displayed here between Japanese (RPG) players and Western (JRPG) players.

And Famitsu loses even more credibility. Every Dragon Quest is garbage except for VIII. You fly a fucking Whale to the moon in Final Fantasy IV, what more do you want? Note: The actual two best JRPGs are Vagrant Story and Valkyrie Profile 2, Tactics is probably the best Final Fantasy because of the story. RPG is vague enough to include Nioh/Bloodborne etc.

And Famitsu loses even more credibility. Every Dragon Quest is garbage except for VIII. You fly a fucking Whale to the moon in Final Fantasy IV, what more do you want? Note: The actual two best JRPGs are Vagrant Story and Valkyrie Profile 2, Tactics is probably the best Final Fantasy because of the story. RPG is vague enough to include Nioh/Bloodborne etc.

Can Famitsu really lose credibility because of what their readers like?

The phrase "recency bias" comes to mind. I dunno, my list of best RPGs is way heavier in western D&D type things, your Planescape: Torment & Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age Origins, along with other Bioware & Interplay jams like KOTOR & Fallout. But of course Japanese people play more JRPGs & like them more. It's at least nice to see The Witcher 3 creep on there so it's not all JRPGs.

I imagine all the social commentary in that game hits way harder in Japan than it does in the west. I wonder if that can account for that reaction.

I think this might have a lot to do with it, they did go all in and referenced some real people directly, short of using their real names and likeness. Might be the reason some folks where disappointed in the west as well, as it does not reflect western issues as directly and does not touch current western social problems. Tho there are some parallels.

My top two, and a few other games in my top 20, didn't even make the list.

Apparently the Japanese have terrible taste in Japanese role playing games. I'm a little shocked that there's no idea factory/compile hearts garbage on the list. I'll give them a little bit of credit for that.

@doctordonkey: I don't think anyone's arguing that Persona 5 is a good game. But best RPG of all time? Come On Son. Um saying this as a guy who has Last Surprise as his ringtone.

Unfinished Final Fantasy 15 is above Witcher 3. What kind of bullshit is that? None of this Soulsbournes or Zelda are on this list.

I've always hated lists like these. No one is ever really satisfied with them. Of all the RPGs that have come out in all of time, how is it remotely possible to narrow down that list to 20? There are just so many different varying tastes between game players. Some like a great plot. Others like great characters. Some value choice and being able to build a character the way they want. Most are looking for fun and engaging gameplay. And to some, not having great gameplay isn't even that much of a factor as long as you have some of the other things I've listed.

With all that in mind, even a list of hundred games would be hard. So inherently these lists always end up being "false" because they're so hyperbolic. A better title would have been "Famitsu's 20 must play RPGs".

Glad it clicked so well of there given its focus on Japanese culture. Persona 5's fantastic and most of this list fits my thoughts of the readers of Famitsu. These lists are always going to favour new games, and games that have yet to be recently remastered/remade (which breaks the nostalgia factor). Interesting that no Pokemon game is on this list - I wonder if they don't think of them as RPGs.

As it was a plurality voting system (with 2,295 entrants), 256 votes crowned P5 the winner. I'd expect the result to be very different were it a list-ranking. You can see how this change can result in differences in places from our very own Giant Bomb Community 2016 GOTY Voting. With more (5,795) entrants, and a smaller pool of games (just 2016 titles), and up to 10times per entrant for a game to get a vote, there were still differences with the Plurality and the Weighted List rankings. Famitsu have less entrants and a much larger number of games to choose from with All Time RPGs, ranked list voting would changed a lot.

On the other hand, Persona 3 above Persona 4: Excellent (the only true ranking)!

@doctordonkey: Persona 5 gets flack here? I haven't really read any threads on it since lul spoilers. But that seems a little weird. It's definitely my personal favorite Persona by a long shot. I could see people liking 3/4 over it just on tone and setting, but is anyone actually arguing P5 is bad?

I feel like there should be a cut-off year for any "best game of all time" poll there, just so people can take a step back and actually ruminate instead of constantly being stuck on the flavour of the month and the technological race.

I feel like there should be a cut-off year for any "best game of all time" poll there, just so people can take a step back and actually ruminate instead of constantly being stuck on the flavour of the month and the technological race.

I dunno about that even, the first Nier is on there at #8 and there is no way that'd be on this list if Automata wasn't so popular recently, let alone in the top 10.

The internet has a short memory span and will always over-emphasize recent releases in these kinds of rediculous polls. Remember the hubbub around Undertale being crowned GOAT on Gamefaqs a while back?

With Neir on the list, Persona isn't even my top RPG this year, let alone ever. They're both still too fresh I think and people are putting stuff from this year above games that a few years from now, they'll remember as much lower on their own personal top-whatever lists

I'm glad to see Persona 3 so high. That game is underrated in the West, in my opinion.

Underrated, sure, but I'm not sure it should be so high up either (Portable? Let's talk :p). The lack of direct party control plus terrible[0] AI makes the combat FAR more frustrating than it needs to be (Mitsuru casts Marin Karin.........), the menus are convoluted, and the lack of party S. Links significantly reduces the emotional pull of the narrative.

Still a terrific game, but 9th best RPG of all time feels like a stretch.

BTW, do you know if/how the votes were pooled? Seems a little strange to have Persona 3 (not FES) but P4 The Golden, with no sign of the other versions.

Most of the games on the list would not be surprising to see Western gamers vote for. There's a remarkable amount of similarity in taste displayed here between Japanese (RPG) players and Western (JRPG) players.

Sony has stepped up their game when it comes to releasing jrpgs here. Im shocked at the amount of games that comes to vita that would have NEVER made it a decade ago.

People get enthusiastic about good new games! Yay! Forget best RPG, at one point Famitsu readers voted FF13 as the best game of all time.

There is probably some truth to that, but as someone who routinely manages his ordered lists because I am a madman, I can honestly say that the type of games that truly resonate with me are just getting better as time goes on. It's not that I do not remember the games I used to like, it's that I can say in full honesty that I am enjoying games way more now because they are better designed and more fun to play.

@doctordonkey: Persona 5 gets flack here? I haven't really read any threads on it since lul spoilers. But that seems a little weird. It's definitely my personal favorite Persona by a long shot. I could see people liking 3/4 over it just on tone and setting, but is anyone actually arguing P5 is bad?

No one is really, just some "mehs" which confounds people who are head over heels with it.

Recency bias and small sample sizes sure are things, I guess. I dunno why people get incensed about lists like these, unless we want to get up in arms about Undertale being crowned "Greatest Game of All Time" by GameFAQs the year it was released again.

@gargantuan: Famitsu is a Japanese magazine so based on past history I can see why Fallout might be something that doesn't appear on this list.

Neat to see that Dragon Quest is still as popular over there when several Famicom/Super Famicom games can get named as the best of all time. Now how many Dragon Quest games do I have to buy for them to release Dragon Quest XI in the west.